Need to get busy on clean air. It wasn't good news for people in Madison and Dane County when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently reported that the air quality is bad. It's small consolation that Dane County wasn't alone. The EPA's review also flunked Brown, Columbia, Racine, Waukesha and Milwaukee counties. [News Source]

Achieving clean air. The federal appellate court delivers welcome ruling that will be good for the lungs, reversing an Environmental Protection Agency rule that would have caused more pollution if left intact. [News Source]

Council adopts land use code, weighs terminal project. The Arcata, California City Council has moved forward with adoption of an updated Land Use Code. [News Source]

Big rig retail center opens. Port authorities opened a truck retail center Friday in the heart of America's busiest seaport, offering new, low-emission big rigs at discounts of up to 80 percent. Port officials are trying to spur the rapid turnover of some 17,000 soot-spewing diesel rigs now serving the harbor. [News Source]

Many companies still using trucks. Developer Richard Allen went to great lengths to build two San Joaquin Valley industrial parks next to railway lines, just in case a company wanted to use the line for its distribution. [News Source]

Study shows asthma, air pollution link . A new California study shows a strong link between asthma and air pollution, with cities that are situated near the ports and the airport at highest risk for the respiratory condition. [News Source]

Carmel will ban city vehicles from idling. Carmel, Indiana Mayor Jim Brainard scheduled a 2 p.m. news conference for Tuesday to announce an executive order that prohibits city employees from letting city vehicles idle. [News Source]

Green building comes to Southwest Florida. Green living is coming to Southwest Florida and it will only be a matter of time before more and more of the area becomes earth-friendly. [News Source]

Terminal’s opposition energized. As Jacksonville, Florida Port Authority officials unveil more details about a proposed cruise ship terminal, more opposition is voiced from residents, who said pollution from the ships will wreck the fishing village that was established in 1562. [News Source]

Test to decide if air monitor gets tossed. A test is underway to find out if a downtown Greenville, South Carolina air monitor that critics have said for years gives skewed data on air quality can be jettisoned. [News Source]

DEC: Indian Point should consider cooling towers. New York state wants Indian Point to use newer and more expensive cooling systems at its nuclear power plant in Buchanan to protect fish in the Hudson River. [News Source]